Seniors take flight thanks to nonprofit

Junette Reyes

Seymour Landau, 95, shakes hands with pilot Darryl Fisher after their flight. Landau served as a flight engineer during World War II and flew many missions in the China Burma India Theater. He was among the seniors and veterans that recently had the chance to take flight at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

Seymour Landau, 95, shakes hands with pilot Darryl Fisher after their flight. Landau served as a flight engineer during World War II and flew many missions in the China Burma India Theater. He was among the seniors and veterans that recently had the chance to take flight at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

Residents of Covenant Village of Florida, a senior living community in Plantation, recently had the chance to take flight at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

The flights were made possible by Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to give back to veterans and senior citizens.

Each of the six participants, ranging in age from 66 to 88, were able to take a 15- to 20-minute flight on a route that passed over Fort Lauderdale. This was the second year residents of the senior living community were able to take part in the event, most of which were veterans.

Michele Smith, the activities coordinator for independent living at Covenant Village, said they have a community of almost 80 veterans, ranging in service from World War II to Vietnam and the Korean War.

"We try to do different veteran-oriented activities, things that would be of interest to them, to bring them together to bond and to share experiences and whatnot," said Smith. "We really honor our veterans at Covenant Village."

Surveillance video shows two men in a confrontation that led to the shooting outside the Plantation Inn Hotel & Lounge on State Road 7.

Surveillance video shows two men in a confrontation that led to the shooting outside the Plantation Inn Hotel & Lounge on State Road 7.

What made the flights even more special was the fact that the seniors rode in a 1942 Boeing Stearman biplane, an aircraft that was used to train aviators in the 30s and 40s.

With an open cockpit, veteran Don Bradley, 88, made sure to snap a few pictures while soaring 1,000 feet in the air. Bradley served during the Korean War from 1950 to 1954 in the U.S. Navy. He made several cruises throughout four years on the Battleship Missouri (BB63), including a nine-month tour of duty in the Korean theater of war.

"The flight was out of this world. I just loved every minute of it," said Bradley. "We went out over the coast and flew down along the coast. I saw everything and it was great."

Darryl Fisher, pilot and founder of AADF, said the dream flights started in 2011 after he decided to offer free flights to assisted living residents while picking up his father's biplane in Mississippi and flying it back to Oregon. He is a third-generation pilot, with both of his grandparents flying before him. They were also in the senior living business in the 60s, so Fisher grew up around airplanes and the elderly, and developed a passion for both.

Fisher said the flights have since been a natural progression, having recently celebrated their 2,000th flight back in Mississippi.

"I've gained a huge amount of just appreciation for the people of this country that have helped protect it, helped defend our freedoms, and help make it what it is today," said Fisher. "It's just a way to say thank you in a really unique, different way at a time in their lives when they don't get a chance to do these kinds of things."